


Graduation

by cnell



Series: Turning Page Productions [5]
Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 09:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnell/pseuds/cnell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fresh out of community college, Lydia makes an announcement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Graduation

_June 2014_

Lydia’s puffy, makeup-smudged face loomed close to the camera. “Guess who’s here, you guys.”

She flopped backwards into a pile of pillows, revealing her bedroom floor covered with blankets, sleeping bags, empty bottles and pizza boxes. Grinning from ear to ear, she punched her arms into the air before wrapping them around her eldest sister, who was slumped against the wall in a pink bathrobe, her hair tumbling in loose curls over her shoulder.

“Hi everyone!” said Jane with a sleepy smile. “It’s so good to see you again.” She waved at the camera with one hand and patted Lydia’s arm with the other, squinting at the morning sunlight that insisted on filling the room. “Oh my gosh, what time is it.”

“Too early,” moaned Lizzie. She was huddled on Lydia’s right, cocooned in a goose down comforter. “Curse you and your East Coast jetlag.”

Lydia leaned over to drag Lizzie closer. “Bennet puppy pile! I mean, no offense, Kitty.” The cat blinked from her nest of blankets, tucking her forepaws against her chest. “Plus Mary, who’s hiding from the camera, get _over_ here.”

Mary scooted into the frame with a weary sigh. “Oh my god, we’re seriously doing this?”

“Hell yeah, we are.” Lydia reached past Jane to swat Mary’s shoulder. “You’re totally an honorary Bennet.”

“Yaaaay,” said Mary.

“So you must be thinking,” Lydia continued, hugging a pillow and making herself comfortable again, “why did everybody rush back home and spend the night getting drunk on the floor?”

“Except for Mary,” Lizzie murmured. “And Kitty.”

“Must be some big crazy family drama, right? _Nope_. Wrong!”

Mary gave the camera a look of sarcastic outrage. “I mean really, where would you even _get_ that idea?”

“So cynical,” scolded Jane.

“No, our various hangovers are in honor of a totally amazing occasion,” said Lizzie. She unwrapped herself just enough to sweep her arm in a grand flourish. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present our most esteemed community college graduate with a B-minus average in General Studies, Ms. Lydia Britney Bennet.”

They all cheered as enthusiastically as their lack of sleep and hydration would allow. “Woohoo!” said Lydia. “Check me ou-- oww. Too much. Ow.” She clutched her forehead and collapsed against Lizzie. “I think my head’s falling off.”

Mary smirked. “Absolutely zero sympathy, dude.” She picked up one of the empty bottles and waved it in Lydia’s face. “I mean, Smirnoff Ice, really?”

“It’s cheap,” Lydia retorted. “I’m broke. Shut up.”

“You should have seen Mom last night,” Lizzie said to the camera. “She was bawling like a six-year-old.” Sitting up, she grabbed Lydia and launched into Mrs. Bennet’s trademark Southern accent. “My baby’s not a dropout! She could marry an accountant one day!”

Lydia groaned and squirmed until she was sprawled across her sisters’ laps, her head buried in her pillow. “Thank god it’s over,” she mumbled. “I am so outta here.”

Jane patted her knee. “Okay, honey. We’ll wake you up when there’s breakfast.”

One blue eye reappeared. “No, I mean I’m _outta_ here. Leaving town. First chance I get.”

“What?” Lizzie leaned over her, smoothing her  hair out of her face. “Why? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, my paranoid older sister, I’m fine,” said Lydia with an I-told-you-so look at the camera. “I’m just ready for something different. Anyway, why’d you guys fix up Dad’s old car as my graduation present if you expected me to stay put?”

Lizzie pursed her lips. It was a fair point. “All right, but just warning you, Mom and Dad won’t be thrilled. They’re kind of expecting you to settle down this summer and start a real degree – their words, not mine, by the way.”

“Degrees are so last year.” Lydia gave her a sly nudge with her elbow. “I’ve watched everybody’s videos, I know how it goes. Blow off higher education, move somewhere random, all your dreams come true and we’ll throw in your very own hottie absolutely free.”

Mary rolled her eyes. Jane grinned at her and rubbed her baby sister’s arm. “Sure, Lydia. That’s definitely the way the world works. Here, drink some more water.”

“Bing will back me up on this,” Lydia insisted between mouthfuls. “So will Gigi, and if Princess Prissyface can do it then I _totally_ can.”

Lizzie poked her arm. “Hey, be nice. She really likes you.”

“Whatevs, she knows what I mean.” Lydia waved her finger at the camera. “You know what I mean! Like, okay, Gigi’s cool and everything, but dinky tourist towns and ice cream shops? Screw that. Lydia Bennet is going places.”

“Oh yeah?” said Mary. “Like off the floor, for starters?”

Lydia made a feeble noise and slumped into Lizzie’s lap again. “Maybe in a few minutes.” Her eyes closed and for a moment she seemed to be falling asleep. Then, in a firmer voice: “And later on, maybe LA.”

They all turned to her in surprise. “Los Angeles?” Jane said. “Really?”

Lydia didn’t move. “I really liked it there. You really liked it there.”

Jane nodded pensively. Meanwhile, Lizzie was working hard to keep the worry off her face. “It’s a pretty huge step, Lydia. Do you even have – I mean, what are you thinking of doing?”

“Just … anything.” Lydia shrugged, playing with the edge of her pillowcase. “Get a job somewhere and meet a bunch of new people and make videos. There are tons of YouTubers in the city. I’m friends with some of them online, they said they could hook me up.”

“Wow,” Mary said, sincere this time. “You’ve actually been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you?”

Lydia let out a breath and offered them an apologetic smile. “I guess I’m tired of sitting here just ‘being okay’ while you guys are running around with your awesome boyfriends doing awesome things.”

Lizzie and Jane shifted instinctively, leaning closer together until the three of them were cuddled in a red-haired heap on the floor, and exchanged a glance over Lydia’s head. “Los Angeles isn’t that far away,” said Jane, cheerfully. “Aunt Sara was really sweet about letting me stay with her until I found my own place. And Bing and I both have friends there.”

“I do fly down for meetings a lot these days,” Lizzie conceded. “So do William and Charlotte.”

“See, it’ll totally work,” said Lydia. “Anyway, Kitty’s coming with me and she’s got my back. She’ll run up to intruders and nudge them to death, won’t you, baby?”

Kitty yawned, plopped her face into the blankets and went to sleep.

No-one spoke for a while. Lydia lay still, embraced by her sisters, until her courage came inching back. “So? What do you think?”

“I think it’s a cool idea,” said Mary with a firm nod. “Maybe I’ll come hang out once you get settled. I mean, if you promise it’ll be quiet sometimes.”

Lizzie gave her sister a long serious look. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

“Yeah,” said Lydia. “I think so.”

“Then,” Lizzie said slowly, “you should do it.”

Lydia stared up at her. “Really? Even if Mom and Dad freak out?”

Jane took her hand and smiled. “They’ll be fine. We’ll talk to them about it.”

“Okay.” Lydia breathed a nervous little laugh. “Wow. Okay.” She looked at the camera, winked and squeezed her eyes shut. “Watch out, world.”


End file.
